DARdreams2

Sunday, October 4, 2009

Erythritol is a wonderful sweetener for diabetics and others who follow a low carb lifestyle. It can be used in many recipes from drinks to desserts like puddings, candies, cakes, crunches, and cookies.

Erythritol is a sugar alcohol, but it has different characteristics than most sugar alcohols. It doesn't have nasty side effects (like "gastric upset") and has very little, if any, effect on BGLs (Blood Glucose Levels). I count it as 0 net carbs in my recipes and my glucose meter agrees.

Unlike man-made sweeteners, erythritol is natural. It is made by fermenting foods which contain natural sugars. It only has 0.2 calories per gram, so it adds almost 0 calories as well as net carbs. It also has an FDA-approved "does not promote tooth decay" health claim.

There are different forms of erythritol. I use both granulated and powdered in my recipes. The granulated form helps to keep things crunchy, like the Cinnamunch Pizzelle pictured above and my various crunches. You can find many of my desserts using erythritol in the Coconut Flour Recipes category at DARdreams.

Powdered erythritol works great in chocolates. You can find my chocolates recipes in the Cookie and Candy Recipes category at DARdreams along with other recipes using erythritol.

I like to combine erythritol with a little Fiberfit (liquid sucralose) to counteract its slightly "cool" taste. But I also use it straight like for the powdered sugar-like coating of my Low Carb Russian Teacakes.

As always, check around for the best prices, including shipping. You can run granular erythritol through a blender yourself to make it finer, but I prefer ordering it already powdered as well as granular.